In the fields with which we are concerned, knowledge comes only in flashes. The text is the thunder rolling long afterward.
Walter BenjaminIdeas are to objects as constellations are to stars [translated from Trauerspiel, 1928].
Walter BenjaminThe fairy tale, which to this day is the first tutor of children because it was once the first tutor of mankind, secretly lives on in the story. The first true storyteller is, and will continue to be, the teller of fairy tales. Whenever good counsel was at a premium, the fairy tale had it, and where the need was greatest, its aid was nearest. This need was created by myth. The fairy tale tells us of the earliest arrangements that mankind made to shake off the nightmare which myth had placed upon its chest.
Walter BenjaminI am unpacking my library. Yes I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order.
Walter BenjaminHe who observes etiquette but objects to lying is like someone who dresses fashionably but wears no vest.
Walter BenjaminBy close-ups of the things around us, by focusing on hidden details of familiar objects, by exploring commonplace milieus under the ingenious guidance of the camera, the film, on the one hand, extends our comprehension of the necessities which rule our lives; on the other hand, it manages to assure us of an immense and unexpected field of action.
Walter Benjamin